HUDSON COUNTY – Residents of Hudson County will once again have a front row seat to the Macy’s fireworks display next month in honor of the Fourth of July. For several years running the iconic retailer has hosted the nation’s largest Fourth of July fireworks show from a barge set in the Hudson River, a site that offers residents in the waterfront towns of Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, West New York, and North Bergen prime views of the show.

The length of the barge will run from approximately 24th Street in New York to 40th Street.

In a press release Macy’s has announced that the Hudson River will be the location of the fireworks show this July Fourth. (Until a few years ago, New York’s East River had been the site of the Macy’s fireworks show for many years. This location was not an ideal viewing spot for New Jersey residents.)

The display, which will be put on by SOUSA Fireworks, will feature more than 40,000 pyrotechnic shells that will be set off during a 26-minute show, according to the release, with roughly 1,800 shells launched every minute.

In a Fourth of July first for Macy’s, SOUSA and Macy’s executives have enlisted the support of a top recording artist to help synchronize the fireworks display and the music that accompanies the show. Macy’s and SOUSA are partnering with Grammy-winning singer/producer/songwriter Usher to curate the music so that the pace and rhythm of the songs selected are in sync with the light show.

“This year Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks will be transformed into a giant party in the sky captivating audiences along the Hudson River and on television screens across the country,” Amy Kule, executive producer of Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks, said in a company release. “Since 1976, Macy’s Fireworks have grown in scale and artistry. With this first-ever collaboration with Usher, we are taking the show to the next level of entertainment spectacle, combining the very best of Macy’s Fireworks with Usher’s unparalleled artistic vision.”

Macy’s estimates that the fireworks show will be seen by three million people nationwide, with most of those viewers, of course, seeing the show on TV. Lucky for residents of Hudson County, many of them will be able to catch the show live.

The show gets underway on Thursday, July 4 at sundown, which will be at approximately 9 p.m. – E. Assata Wright